A fire in Laing Avenue last night left at least 25 people homeless and incalculable losses after ravaging a range building with 12 apartments in it.

According to reports on the scene, a child lighting a stove is said to be the cause of the blaze, which completely destroyed around half of the building – lots 55 to 60.

When this newspaper arrived on the scene at around 9 pm the flames were leaping and sending up a thick plume of smoke visible for miles.

There were wails of anguish from many in the crowd some of whom managed to scramble a few pieces of furniture out from their apartments in anticipation of the destruction that the fire promised. Some people had their wardrobes and other pieces of furniture on the side of the road and though saved from certain destruction by fire, some pieces were waterlogged from the fire-fighting efforts.

Two fire tenders were on the scene and members of the Guyana Fire Service aided by helpful neighbours managed to bring the blaze to an end. They climbed on top of the houses and guided hoses to the flames in an effort to bring the fire under control.

Though most of the apartments had been under renovation and sections were being replaced with concrete, the mostly pitch pine-built range house was a tinderbox and the fire spread quickly.

One woman said that she came home from church to meet her apartment on fire. The woman, Alvina Bowman said that she wasn’t able to save any of the items that she had in her home. She and the other householders were being comforted by friends and well wishers as the firemen fought the remainder of the blaze. Some of the other persons whose apartments were either razed or gutted are Melissa Griffith, Carissa Anderson, Knight Dell, Nicola Kitt and Tage Chung. (Johann Earle)